Another Crew Energy Frac Incident. This time in Septimus area, BC. In 2011, Crew contaminated fresh groundwater with gelled propane during frac’ing

B.C. Oil and Gas Commission inspectors are continuing to investigate an incident at a Crew Energy well site near Fort St. John.

Crew Energy’s Sr. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Morgan explained that the incident happened yesterday evening at approximately 5:15 p.m. Morgan says that Crew Energy workers were completing a sweet gas well at a site approximately 25 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John.

During the start of a fracture stimulation,part of the well’s surface piping failed, which saw a release of produced water. Morgan says that though no one was injured, and that there was no release of hydrocarbons, Crew Energy immediately contacted Emergency Management B.C., as well as the OGC.

The OGC’s Executive Director for Corporate Affairs Graham Currie says that there was no risk to the public, as the nearest residence is located roughly 6 kilometres from the well site. Though only situated just over two kilometres from the Pine River, Currie said that all discharged materials, which consisted entirely of water were contained to the site. Morgan said that the rest of the fluidwas removed by vacuum trucks as it came to the surface, and that the flow of water has since stopped.

Morgan explained that Crew Energy won’t know the cause of the pipe’s failure until an investigation is completed. He added that the water inside the pipes is at approximately 25 megapascals of pressure when conducting operations, which is nearly 250 times atmospheric pressure. [Emphasis added]